A Frayed Knot
by FlamingFlyingFoxOfDoom
Summary: He was going to be a Hero, he was certain. All Might had chosen him to inherit his power, and soon he will be the Symbol of Peace. That was his goal. But a curious girl asks him "Is that really what you want?" Starring Gradual-Change-Into-A-Villain-Deku! [Cover pic done by suvfav on tumblr!]
1. Chapter 1

Izuku was walking home from school, shouldering his bag so it sat snugger against his back. His eyes were downcast, scanning over the scrawling notes and diagrams in his journal. A frown was set to his lips, but one hand moved to cover his mouth. Silently, he blinked away tears.

His crestfallenness was abruptly broken by a scream. Izuku stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening.

"Sounds like it came from that way." Izuku muttered to himself, quickly putting his journal in his bag and racing towards the source.

As he got closer, the screams died out. But another sounds took its place. A gushing noise, a sloshing noise, back to gushing. It sounded like a knife carving into a pumpkin. Izuku's heart sunk at the implications of it.

He turned a corner into an alley way. Suddenly, his feet froze as he found himself witness to what was happening.

A girl, no older than eight by the look of her, was standing over the bleeding body of what looked to be a hero from the costume. The man was on his back, mouth slightly opened to guide a trail of blood seeping down the sides of his face. Several holes were drilled into the body. On his chest, in his sides, one through his cheeks. Blood was everywhere, staining the edges of the girl's long skirt. From the back of the girl, five black threads arched in the air. Bloodied needles hung from the ends of them.

She turned to smile at Izuku.

"Oh, hello." She said happily. Her eyes were a bright red, gleaming as they looked at him. "Did you come to see me?"

Izuku was at a lost for words. He's heard of the murders happening around the city. People were found with holes all over their bodies, none of them quite fatal but enough for the person to bleed out. Heroes and the police have been looking all over for the culprit, but no one seemed able to pinpoint who did it and why.

But now, Izuku had found her. And needless to say, he was quite surprised.

"Um…" He fought to find words to confront her with. She seemed to take this as an invitation to come closer, as she skipped through the alley to stand in front of him, head inclined to look up to him.

"I'm Fray." She introduced herself, that little smile still on her face "What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Izuku-" He shook his head, forcing a glare "Wait, no, what are you doing?"

Fray tilted her head to look at him. Then she turned back, looking at the man who was still twitching. "He was being mean."

Izuku stared at her a moment, mouth moving but no words being said. He took a deep breath, then walked briskly past the girl, eyes set on the hero bleeding out. A step or two into his short trek, and he saw the needles from the girl curve in front of him, wrapping him up in their trailing threads. He was pulled backwards, being pushed down to his knees at the force of them. Fray stood in front of him, frowning.

"I just told you he was being mean." She said "Weren't you listening?"

Izuku struggled to pull free from the strings. "No! I mean, yes I was listening, but…" He went limp a moment before looking to meet her eyes. "Fray, listen, it doesn't matter if he was being mean. You shouldn't hurt people."

Fray looked at him like he grew a second head. "B-but, but he said…." She shook her head, her gray hair whooshing back and forth. She balled her small, pale hands into fists "He said I had a villain quirk! He said I was like a villain!"

Izuku continued to struggled out from the strings, looking past Fray with desperate eyes to the man that was just barely alive. He forced his eyes to look back at the girl.

"Okay, so he may have been mean. But isn't this just proving him right?" Izuku said, almost pleading to get something resembling a moral across to Fray. He gave her a wobbly smile "You don't have to do this. Please, just-"

Fray cut him off, stomping her foot on the ground "You think I'm a villain too! I'm not! I'm not a villain!"

"I-I'm not saying you are!" Izuku sputtered.

"He was mean to me!" She cried, her strings shaking him back and forth "He and everyone else are mean to me!"

"F-Fray-!" Izuku exclaimed "Fray, please just listen to me-!"

Suddenly the ropes dropped, and the girl dropped to her knees, her head in her hands "It's not fair! It's not fair! I never did anything wrong but everyone was always so _mean_ and I tried to be good but no one cared!"

Izuku frowned. His heart ached for her in a strange way. While it wasn't true she never did anything wrong, considering the man bleeding out in front of him, he still understood how she came to be where she was. His mind began to feel a bit foggy as his empathy leapt out to her.

He reached forward, putting a hand on her shoulder "Fray, I- I get it." He said softly "People always told me I couldn't be a hero, even if that's what I've always wanted. And everyone was just, everyone was just so cruel to me, even if I didn't do anything to deserve it." As he spoked, Fray looked up at him, tears pouring from her eyes. Izuku felt his eyes begin to moisten a bit too, and he kept talking "All I ever did was try to help people, but that didn't matter to others. They just wanted me to feel bad and told me I could never be anything."

He was crying at this point, and he couldn't stop. Fray quietly got up, drifting over to sit by his side. She wrapped her arms around him and gently pulled him into her embrace.

"Didn't that make you mad?" She said, her voice small.

"Y-yeah-" Izuku croaked "Yeah, it did. It made me mad, and it made me upset, it made me feel like garbage and…." He broke down into sobs, hanging his head down. Fray hugged him tighter, rubbing small circles into his back.

"It's okay, Izuku. It's okay. Shh, shh…"

Izuku started rambling again, unable to keep the words from tumbling out of his mouth. Unable to get rid of the foggy feeling in his head, putting pressure behind his eyes as if they were going to pop.

"Everyone said I couldn't be a hero! Even my mother, even All Might-" he stopped, staring straight down. "But…." He craned his head up again and a wobbly smile found its way to his face "But All Might….he said…."

"You couldn't be a hero." Fray frowned "Right?"

Izuku shook his head "At first, yeah. But…" His thoughts were becoming clearer "But then he got to know me a little bit. And he took it back. He said I could be a hero." His smile gained a bit more strength. Then suddenly dropped. He scrambled away from the girl, stumbling over to the hero who was just barely alive at this point. "Oh no oh no oh no." He sputtered, draping one of the man's arm across his shoulders "Oh no he's going to bleed to death-"

"Is that really what you want?" Fray asked with a frown "To be a Hero?"

"Fray, I- Now's not the time-!" Izuku said, his voice rising just a little bit "I need to get this man to a hospital!"

"You want to help everyone?" Fray said, eyes focusing on something that wasn't there "You want to be a Hero more than anything…."

Izuku groaned as he tried to move the man. His feet dragged along the ground- and oh god, he was just losing so much blood it was all over the place. Izuku placed him back on the ground, ripping off shreds of his uniform and pressing them against the wounds, trying to stop the blood from flowing freely.

"Izuku."

He didn't look at her, focusing on keeping the man alive.

"Is that what you really want?"

"YES!" Izuku cried out "Yes, yes, I've said this already! Fray, please, I know you were upset, but please do something to _help-"_

The needles gently pushed Izuku aside, then swiftly dug into the sides of the man's wounds, stitching them back together in a crude zig-zag pattern. The man let out a grunt, too far gone to actually scream. He tensed a moment, but then his head fell back.

Izuku couldn't help but shoot her a smile, lifting the man back off the ground. The hero let out a moan of protest, but couldn't open his eyes or even say anything to indicate how he was feeling.

"Izuku?" Fray blinked, looking up at him "I want to help you get what you want."

Izuku smiled sadly at her.

The fogginess returned, clouding his thoughts and his judgement and he almost forgot about the man he was carrying.

"Thank you, Fray."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **First Hero Academia fanfic! Sorry if anyone seems OOC… Anyway, I haven't read the BNHA manga, so I don't really know everything about the series. So. Um…. Leave a review, please?**

 **P.S. I don't proofread all that much. So forgive any spelling/grammar errors.**

 **P.S.S. The cover picture of this fic was done by suvfav on tumblr! They got some amazing pieces, so go give their blog a look, if you would!**


	2. Chapter 2

Izuku brought the fallen hero to the hospital. When they asked him what had happened, he lied. He said he found the man bleeding out in an alley way, and that he didn't know how he had gotten that injured.

Something in the back of his head told him that that was wrong, that he shouldn't lie about something so serious. But he dismissed the thought without an ounce of regret. The police showed up at the hospital and questioned him further. Izuku kept calm and stuck to his lie. They eventually thanked him for his help and let him go. By then, it was dark out.

Izuku sighed, quickly taking out his phone and texting his mother a quick message saying he was okay. He knew how much Inko worried about him, but it seemed to take too much effort for him to care. He shook his head, smacking his hands onto either side of his face in an attempt to feel anything.

Izuku took off at a trot, only barely aware of his surroundings.

"Izuku?" said a small voice. Izuku turned to face the speaker, and a small smile tugged its way to his lips.

"Oh, uh, hi Fray."

The girl was peering up at him with her eyes that seemed even brighter in the dark. "Are you okay?"

Izuku nodded "Yeah, I'm fine." He swallowed down the lump in his throat. His chest ached.

Fray frowned "You look pale."

Izuku shook his head, giving her a smile "I'm fine, really. Don't worry."

She stared at him a bit longer. A bit too long, really. Izuku started to sweat nervously, eyes darting back and forth. "Uh, shouldn't you go home?"

Fray shook her head "I wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed so upset earlier."

That faint smile returned to the boy's face. He moved closer to her, putting a hand on her head and ruffling her hair.

"I'm okay, really. Do you need me to walk you home?" he said. Fray gave a little nod, fidgeting with her hands.

"It gets scary walking in the dark." She said. Izuku smile grew a bit stiff, recalling the near-murder he had witnessed earlier. Somehow he doubted there'd be many people scarier than she had been.

Izuku's eyes widened as he looked at her. His heart skipped a beat and something finally clicked.

"I should turn you in…" He said out loud, staring at her.

"Turn me into what?" Fray said with a small tilt of her head.

 _She's just a kid._ Izuku thought, biting his lip. A kid who's been killing people. But still a kid. Izuku thought back to earlier, remembering her genuine attempts to comfort him. If she had that bit of kindness in her, then it could be reasoned she had more, right? She wasn't bad, she just….she just did bad things.

Shouldn't a Hero try to save everyone?

"It's nothing." Izuku said, swallowing down his hesitation. "I'll walk you home. Which way?"

Fray smiled, pointing down the street "This way." She said. Izuku nodded, his smile unsteady, becoming even more so plus stiff and slightly terrified when Fray took his hand.

She didn't talk much as they walked, instead humming a little tune. Izuku kept her in view through the corner of his eye, on edge. Fray wasn't hostile in the least towards him. And every once in a while she'd give his hand a little squeeze, as if to assure him she was still there.

Fray guided him though the streets and alley ways. As they walked, it got darker, with fewer lights illuminating their way. Fear gripped Izuku in its icy grip, his stride becoming slower as his caution grew. Eventually, they apparently arrived at their destination.

The building was falling apart. Part of its roof had already collapsed, the lawn was overgrown. An iron fenced surrounded the building, a mounted sign faded so the only letters visible were 'O-r-p-a-g-e'.

 _Orphanage?_ Izuku thought, his lips creasing into a frown. It looked so run-down. So old. Why did Fray bring him here?

She let go of his hand, pushing open the iron gate, which creaked in protest. A wide smile was set to her face "Thanks for walking me home!"

"You live here!?" Izuku exclaimed.

Fray gave him a little nod "Mhm."

Izuku stared, struggling to find words. Eventually he said "Do…..er, do you live with anyone?"

"Nope. Just me." Fray said. She waved "Bye, Izuku."

"Um…" Izuku swallowed, fidgeting with his hands. Fray's smile fell.

"Izuku?" she said "Is something wrong?"

"I'm….I'm just worried about you." He said "You live all by yourself here, and it's dark….Isn't it scary?"

"….A little." Fray admitted. She began to fidget with her hands. "But I'll be fine." Her smile returned, weighed down by some intangible weight. "Thanks for worrying."

Izuku gulped "Um….sure." He shifted his feet "Hey, uh….Fray?"

"Yes?"

His first thought was to bring her back to his house. But memories of that hero, bleeding on the ground, brought the bile of doubt to the back of his throat. His mother….he couldn't expose her to that kind of danger, but he couldn't just leave Fray alone, but he couldn't let her just do what she wants… Too many things could go wrong. And he was too tired, felt far too drained, to really give his course of action too much thought.

"I'll come visit tomorrow, alright?" Izuku settled for this response.

Fray's eyes lit up. "You will?" She bounced towards him suddenly, not allowing him time to respond before she threw her arms around his waist in a hug "Okay! I'll stay here allllll day and wait for you! You promise you'll visit, right, right?"

The corners of Izuku's mouth twitched up in a smile "I promise."


End file.
